I'am in the process of rebuilding a 1600 cvh engine it's the first time I have done it. All seems to be going OK but I have two or three reservation.
1, The manual states you need a ford tool to refit the rear crank oil seal. I cant find the tool so ended up drifting it in it looks fine but I wouldn't want to put the engine back in and find the seal leaks.
2, The thrust washer/bearing, each side is identical can you put in the wrong way, I know the groves face out from the bearing cap.

3, When the engineer fitted the sleeve he honed all the bores, I've got the pistons in but they make a scratching sound. I guess it's to be expected honed cylinders and new ring but it sounds a little alarming and never being in this position before I've nothing to compare it too. Thanks Steve

issue 1, make sure you fit the seal in square with the housing, it must be parallel other wise it wont run concentric with the crank journal,
Issue 2, the thrust side of the engine is the flywheel side, check in the manual for end float (crank shaft moving from front to back) Is the thrust bearing part of the main bearing? ie one piece.
Issue 3, on assembly of the bearings and the pistons use plenty of oil. I have used an oil additive (Wynns, STP) mixed with the oil to ensure oil is around all the moving parts on start up. The piston ring gaps around the pistons are all at different angles.

Always use plenty of oil everywhere, pistons, oil seals, cam shaft bearings and crank shaft bearings. Once all assembled and in the car I have always got a fully charged battery, remove the spark plugs and HT lead off the coil and wind the engine over several times to get the fresh oil around all the galleries etc. when you have good oil pressure you can replace the plugs and HT lead and hopefully ready to go. (you might need to charge/change the battery to get a good cranking speed.

Thanks for the reply. The seal looks square and seated but the doubt is still there. If I cant get the ford tool then it's probably the best job I can do. The thrust bearing is in 2 pieces and sits in the lower part of number 3 main bearing 1 end is square and 1 end is slightly tapered. Yes I've used plenty of oil and the rings are clocked. The worry I had was the rings scrapping on the cylinder walls it just made me cringe and with nothing to compare it to I just wondered if this was normal after new rings and honing. Steve

thrust washers should be the same size - one each side of the crank web, grooves out as you say. If you're re-using them but didn't mark which side they came from (and the end-float is in limits), you could measure them, they should be worn pretty equally.

don't put any PTFE additive in the bores - you want the rings to bed in. Oil change after a short period of running to get rid of the running in particles.

Regarding the thrust washers I couldn't get a new set but I measured the end float and they were well within tolerance [0.06 end float]but did show some signs of wear. The guy who I got the gaskets and bearing off said non available but said on a low mileage engine should show little signs of wear. I think whats happened is I've read so many ways to do one job I've made a pretty simple job complicated but ho-hum it's all a learning curve. Although after all this work and expense I'd be well teed off if it blew up the first time I tried to start it. Steve